Would you pay more than you already do to get your nails done?

@Ohdearydeary

yep, so it's the latter situation I'm talking about, not your sweet couple.

the tax is a different thing entirely and whilst potentially not great, trouble me a whole lot less than the trafficking/abuse in the the nail bar situation .

besides they might be paying tax. My friend declares all his cash income, he just hates using card machines. 🙄🙄

I was shocked to pay £38 for a manicure and £45 for a pedicure last week!! The staff are Vietnamese and they always want cash, so I’m sure they aren’t paying proper taxes. I never have cash, so always pay by bank transfer.

I’ve now found another lady near me, who works for herself at home and she charges £20 for the same manicure and £30 for a pedicure. That feels like a reasonable price.

Not that I'm blaming you as the price you pay is the price they are charging, but that is honestly shocking. If you think minimum wage is £11.44 an hour - there is absolutely no way the cost per service of the products used is only 56p (a fresh nail file should be used for every customer for example, mine work out at 60p each; I would estimate around £2.50 per service for a bogstandard gel manicure but more for builder/hard gel or acrylic). Then electricity, insurance, rent of premises, business rates, tax and NI, maintenance and replacement of equipment (lamps don't last long and drill bits wear out) etc etc.

I would be very suspicious of a salon that was happily operating at a loss.

@Rainbowshit the cost of a biab manicure is a lot more than the cost of non-gel nail polish, it's not really a fair comparison. The brand I use needs dehydrator, primer, base coat, builder gel and top coat, plus any gel colours/paints used. The builder gel alone is £17 a bottle and you get far less sets than you would out of a bottle of nail polish. I only do friends and family as a hobby because I enjoy it, as there's just no way I could make it worthwhile as a business.

I pay £12 for gel nails in a salon.

I pay £35 upwards, depending on what I have. The most I’ve paid for one set is £50 plus tip (we are in a very cheap part of the country and there is a lot of competition in the area- her prices are normal for the area)

She deals with the money herself, and her husband helps out- he does pedicures (all the pedicure certificates on the wall are his) and makes tea and generally odds about.

They laugh and chat- grandad has been to temple, I went shopping and bought X yesterday, how the kids are getting on etc. My ds has SEND and so does her cousin in Vietnam so we discuss the differences in care/education and stuff.

They live in the flat behind and above the salon.

I know people trafficking is an issue in the industry (and she does prefer cash so I couldn’t swear to her tax situation!) but they don’t seem any different to hairdressers/tradies etc in the area- apart from being Vietnamese.

I stopped going to my old place because I was suspicious of the staff turnover and none of them spoke at all and didn’t appear to speak English except for the lady in charge.

I have biab every 4 weeks and it's £33. Not willing to pay any more than that. It seems extortionate compared to manicures pre gel nails.

I was paying £25 in the 90s.

I was paying £25 every 2 weeks for shellac, sometimes every 10 days, she has now increased pricing up to £27 per set, so I’ve removed them and will have them for special occasions! It takes half an hour. I think it’s extortionate to be honest. (I’m up north) I can afford the increase but I just think it’s increased so much over the last couple of years, not sure it’s worthwhile.

My nail technician, just a manicure, and gel polish, visits me at home, is self employed, and charges £45. (London area).

Until recently I was paying £27 for removal and new set of gels, which is very reasonable, but I've bought my own stuff and now do it myself. It's not just the cost (we are lucky to be comfortably off) but the convenience of doing it at home.

I used to pay £28 in London for gel manicure, so only had it done occasionally. Now I live overseas and use Groupon and pay about £22 every 3-4 weeks for gel mani pedi including removal. The salon gives me Groupon rates without buying a voucher as it's better for the nail tech, then I tip her as well.

My local one was cash only for years, pretty sure that is how they kept prices down. I pay £23 for gels that last 3 plus weeks. I would pay a bit more but over £25, I would get them done a bit less often.

I do not paint my own fingernails anymore as they look bad compared to gels, plus they do not last more than a couple of days, that I would rather have nothing on or gels.

All the owners near me are Vietnam /Thai women and their staff seem relaxed and chatty.

Definitely not. Can’t afford it. Everyone is worse off atm so it makes sense that the salon owners would want more profit but not sure it makes sense as people have less disposable income as it is. Not sure they will do well out of this - hopefully they do but lots of people have their nails done as their one treat, and if the prices rise too much they won’t.

I get custom press on nails anyway. They’re much cheaper and last just as long.

I get mine done at a local beauty and hair salon.
The beautician is a salaried employee so gets paid the same regardless of what she does (she also does eyebrows, eyelashes etc) or if she is fully booked or not.
They charge £36 to remove and reapply gel polish. She soaks off after using a nail file to buff and break the top bond.
I go every 3 weeks or so.

There are other nail places in town who charge less and you can just walk in but they use electric files and are know for being dodgy with a regular staff turnover.

@Ohdearydeary

how much do you pay?

the nail bars are what I was talking about, they have lots of Vietnamese (or Philippine) women working and the male owner walking around keeping an eye on them, taking the money etc, the women look nervously around before speaking and quietly speak of their families back home.

naively many years ago I assumed it was an
opportunity for them, it took a while to see what was going on & as soon as I did I stopped using them.

I pay £25 every four weeks for a manicure and gels. I would pay up £30 for my lady.

I didn’t have anything for years due to my role but now I love having pretty nails.

And it's mostly women customers... so.. fair fair.
Unlike hairdressing, nails are much easier to DIY. There are lots of 'at-home' kits as well. Takes a bit of practice but a fraction of the cost once you get the hang of it.
The article is probably for publicity. It's not news to people that businesses raise prices to survive. No need for a 'national nail price' whatever day.

As a PP said the other issue is the sheer supply of 'nail technicians'. Utmost respect for the professionals but around here every other woman is doing a short course and calling themselves a 'qualified nail technician'. The reason they don't want an actual NMW job is because travel etc costs... also not flexible. If they feel that less than NMW is a good wage for something that they can do from home, who am I to tell them to stop?

They do make them thicker- that’s one of the things I like about them.

I pay £26 for builder gel and whatever colour/decoration I want. The person that does mine owns her own salon, and also does semi permanent makeup. She put her prices up a couple of pounds after Covid but not since then.

They use an online booking system so if anyone does cancel or not turn up they are still charged.

You’re confusing judgement with having an opinion 🙄

if you want to throw your money at nails I really couldn’t care less 🤷🏻‍♀️

Its simply a fact that it makes them thicker though.

My nail place is owned by a couple, she runs it, he helps out.

They don’t have extra staff except one at a time on a specific visa thing for young people to learn languages and skills- they are uni students/new leavers. The current one is lovely- always off around the country sightseeing, speaks 4 languages and chats away about what she has been up to and her plans for when she goes back to Hong Kong.

She is the second one that’s been there in several years- there isn’t a flow of them.

Their families are here (siblings/ nephews and nieces, and parents) and their children are in the local schools.

They are part of the community like anyone else, they just happen to hail from Vietnam.

I've been paying £30 every 3 weeks for nails and £40 for lashes. My tech has put her prices and it's just not feasible for me to pay for it now.

I can do my own nails, I like having them done but it's a luxury I'm not willing to pay for at the new price. Lashes, I won't not have. My friend's daughter will do them for me.

It's not the same but it'll do as it will save me almost £100 a month. I don't think I'm the only one who has decided to stop having services judging by a few social media posts I've seen. It's a tricky one as the tech wants to make money but you can't charge more than people will pay.

I pay £27 every three weeks (with some sort of £5 discount every 5th go) for acrylics. I would pay a bit more as it cheers me up! I probably would stop going at £35 though. I do my own toenails as that’s just gel.

A friend of mine does nails and does very well, she charges upwards of £60 per set, but her nails are all incredible designs - they really are works of art.

I prefer plain nails so I go to the salon in town. I didn’t realise there was potential exploitation happening. The one I go to is run by a Vietnamese lady, everyone in there is very friendly, skilled, and seems happy to be there… I’ve been going for three years every 3 weeks and there hasn’t been huge staff turnovers or new technicians joining either. But it’s possible, how would I know?

There are different things getting conflated here
Employed nail techs in salons etc defo getting minimum wage.
The (usually asian) shops involved in people trafficking etc exploiting people not getting paid a proper wage if anythibg.
Nail techs working in a salon as an independent, cabin in garden, spare room, many are not charging enough and aren't making minimum wage.
They are putting wages up to try and make more thus is more for tge ones charging £20-30. Its not price fixing as they are not setting an amount just all saying make sure you are making a decent amount of money depending on your overheads.